The Revenge of Gaia
by libellule101
Summary: There thought that it was finished. That it was over. That they could live in peace. They didn't know that Gaia had a final challenge for them. One that could threaten the whole of humanity. And it could take a new hero to help save them all. Set after BoO
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _ **Freya**_

They were coming for me today. I knew it. They had come for me once before, but then I had Dad. Now Dad was gone. I had thought they were gone forever. That was wishful thinking. Imogen knew it too, though how I didn't know. She kept furtively glancing at the door as if something was going to leap out and attack her. It put me on edge. It was harder to ignore when there were two of us. It made it seem more real.

"Something is going to happen today." I blurted out in the middle of our conversation.

Imogen blinked and turned away from the door. It worried me how unfocused she was. Usually we could chat to each other for hours. "No, of course not!" She smiled wanly. "Why do you think that?"

"It's just that you look a bit… well…" I trailed off, not wanting to offend her.

"What?"

I bit my lip. "Scared."

Imogen laughed, but it sounded forced, not at all like her usual laugh and her eyes were wide and scared. "Why would I be scared? What's there to be scared of at school? Apart from Mr Turner, I suppose. Anyway, what were you saying earlier?"

I tried to laugh, to pretend that everything was okay, but I couldn't shake that sinister feeling away. There was an uncomfortable feeling in the air. My skin was prickling all over with anticipation. Something was coming for me. It was just a matter of time before it arrived.

Suddenly everything went quiet. I could hear something rolling towards the classroom door, making a sort of whooshing sound, but scarier. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. There were screams and sounds of footsteps from outside the classroom, though in here no one moved a muscle. I was frozen to the ground, my breath coming in short ragged gasps. It had come for me.

Imogen grabbed my hand and pulled me into the store cupboard. It was dark and I could hear Imogen breathing heavily as she fumbled for the light switch. I looked around. We were in a small rectangular room, with shelves of books leading up to a skylight in the ceiling. Outside, there was a terrifying crash as the door burst open and whatever it was that was out there slithered into the classroom. There were screams and shouts from outside. I jerked the door handle. It was locked. I turned to face Imogen, a look of panic on my face.

"What are you doing?"

She wasn't listening, tossing books off the shelves to reach a hidden alcove I had never noticed before, a look of concentration and determination on her face.

"Take this." She thrust a small rucksack into my arms that she had just pulled out. "It's got a change of clothes, some food and some money." I stared at her, confused.

"What's happening?" The shouts were getting louder now. Someone began to pound on the door.

"Let us in! We know you're in there Freya!" A hissing voice whispered from outside.

I leapt away from the door, my hands clammy with sweat, still clutching the rucksack. "How do they know my name?"

Imogen made no reply. She was reaching into the alcove again and took out what looked like a dagger. It had a slight bronze glow to it.

"Imogen?" My voice began to rise in pitch as I struggled to comprehend what was going on. What on earth was she doing? I strode over and shook her hard. Her eyes looked serious and sad.

She sighed. "I wish I could explain everything to you but there's not enough time," The door began to creak under the pressure, although I was not sure whether it was from people desperate to get away from the monsters, or the monsters themselves. "You need to leave. Go to the airport and take a plane to Long Island. When you get there, ask for Annabeth and Piper. I'll hold them off for as long as I can so you can escape."

"What are you going to do though? And what are they?" I asked, still trying to take it all in.

"Amphisbaena." I noticed that she avoided answering my previous question.

I looked at the dagger in Imogen's hand, then back at the door, which had almost burst open.

"I'm not leaving you alone to fight them." I declared "I'm staying to help you. That's what friends are for, aren't they? Helping one another."

"No" Imogen sounded sad and I could have sworn that tears were forming in her eyes. "You need to go Freya."

"But-"

"Just go!"

"Well how on earth am I going to get out of here?" I asked, gesturing wildly round the room. "There's not exactly a door with a flashing sign saying 'Exit this way'."

Imogen smiled, and then pointed up at the skylight above us.

Taking a deep breath, I eased myself up onto the first shelf and began to climb my way up to the skylight. On about the fifth step, I turned around to look back at Imogen. "I just want you to know that whatever happens, you're the best friend I've ever had."

Imogen smiled sadly. "Thank you and goodb- luck."

The door burst open. I had to admit, it had taken longer than I had expected. The amphisbaena rolled into the room. I gasped at the sight of them. They looked like snakes, but had a head at either end of their body. It had sharp teeth-I was pretty sure that they were poisonous and had a gold sort of crown around both heads. They had a thick layer of scales running down their bodies. At a guess I would say that they were about six of them.

Imogen moved fluidly between, striking out with her dagger. They hissed back and spat droplets of poison at her. I winced as some burned smouldering holes in Imogen's grey pleated school skirt. She managed to hack one's head, but it was hard, as the layer of scales was so thick, and more and more of the amphisbaena seemed to appear with each minute that passed. Imogen was managing to hold them off well, for now, but who knew how much longer she could last?

I continued my climb, soon reaching the skylight and was struggling with the latch on it. Some of the amphisbaena had started to slither their way up to the skylight. I felt the scales brush my leg and I nearly lost my balance. I looked down to see that one amphisbaena was nearly level with me. I hammered the skylight harder to try and dislodge it so that I could make my escape. It was no use. The skylight was still stuck fast. I had no escape.

I looked around for a way to defend myself. All I could see were books. I picked one off the shelf. It seemed quite heavy. With all my strength, I leaned back and hit the amphisbaena. It didn't work. It teetered for a long, agonising second, and then continued its climb.

In a state of panic, I hurled more books down at it, but there was no point. Its scales were too strong for it to cause any real damage. The amphisbaena reached towards me and I shut my eyes. My heart raced and the blood was pounding wildly in my head. I grabbed the wooden shelf desperately. If this was how I died, so be it. At least I would die quickly. I could feel its slobbery breath on my leg as it inched its way closer. And closer. And closer, until I could feel him rear up to bite me.

I felt a wave of power wash over me. There was a sound, almost as if things were, well, growing, and the amphisbaena was lifted off me. I opened my eyes. Thick vines were growing from the wood underneath my hands. They had wrapped around the amphisbaena and squeezed the life out of him, I was pretty sure. I stared at my hands in confusion. "Was that me?" I muttered. I gave a silent prayer of thanks anyway.

But there was no time to waste. With renewed vigour, I burst open the skylight and pulled myself onto the roof. I started to run along in what I thought was the direction of the airport, when I heard a bone chilling scream. My blood ran cold. I stiffened. It couldn't be Imogen. No, it wasn't. It had to be, though. Who else could it be? I wanted to go back and help her, if she wasn't already dead, but I knew that was futile. It would be wasting the opportunity she had given me. Tears dripped down my cheeks as I ran. It made me see a glimpse of my true character, how selfish and shallow I was. I wouldn't go back to help a friend in need, the best, if I was being honest, only, friend I'd ever had.

I still didn't understand why the amphisbaenas were after me, why I had seemed to suddenly develop the ability to make plants grow with my hands, or why Imogen seemed so prepared for their arrival. All I knew was that whatever I found in California would somehow give me the answers to all my questions and more. I just hoped that I didn't have to come across any more monsters. Though I highly doubted that that would be the case.

* * *

 _ **I hope you are enjoying the story so far!**_

 _ **I know there aren't any recognisable characters in this chapter, but there will be in the next one, I promise :).**_

 _ **I will try to update as soon as possible, which will probably be around Saturday.**_

 _ **If you enjoyed it, please review it. It would mean a lot to me.**_

 _ **Thank you,**_

 _ **Libellule101 :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _ **Freya**_

I stood outside the entrance to the Long Island airport, scanning the surroundings for signs of any monsters, or two girls holding up a sign saying 'Welcome Freya!', although I highly doubted that they would be so obvious. The sun was warm upon my skin and the wind brushed gently against my face. It was so different to England that it made me feel homesick for a second. But not for long. It just amazed me. There were so many people walking around and talking, a wave of noise washing over you. In the distance the sea glistened invitingly. For some reason I felt like I belonged here.

Two girls who were leaning against a battered mud splattered Land rover caught my eye. They seemed to be having a heated discussion and every now and then one of them, who had curly blonde hair and steely grey eyes, would glance at me, as if she was assessing me for something. "It must be them," I thought, "Piper and Annabeth." Not completely sure, I remained put, fiddling with the straps of my bag and hoping that if they really were Piper and Annabeth, they would come and get me soon.

Finally, the blonde girl sighed and strode over towards me, the other girl, a pretty brunette, followed behind her. I made up my mind and walked towards them. "You must be Freya." The blonde girl said. It was a statement, not a question. Her eyes ran over me briefly. I did look a mess, I suppose. My blonde hair was greasy and bedraggled, tied up with a piece of string in a just about passable ponytail. I had changed out of my school uniform, which had got a bit dirty and torn in the fight against the amphisbaena, but I still looked a bit dishevelled.

"And you must be Piper and Annabeth." I replied.

The brunette smiled. "Yes, I'm Piper. This," she inclined her head towards the blonde girl, "is Annabeth. Imogen told us that you were coming."

The mention of Imogen brought tears to my eyes. "Do you know if she's…?" I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence.

Piper nodded sadly. "I'm sorry, Freya. She's dead."

Those two words made it seem so final. I bent down to the ground and began to cry, huge gulping sobs. Piper leaned down and patted my back. "I'm sorry," she murmured "We will miss her too. Imogen was a good friend of ours and we will miss her too. She died a noble death. Don't blame yourself for it." Piper's words made me feel a bit better. I stood up, still sad, but I had accepted it. I would miss Imogen dearly; however I knew that she would not want me to spend my life grieving for her.

I glanced gratefully at Piper.

Annabeth noticed my glance. She smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Piper does have a way with words like that." Piper blushed.

"Well, we'd better get going then. No time to waste" She hurried back to the Land rover with us close behind.

I climbed into the backseat of the land rover, which didn't look any better outside than in. Piper climbed into the driving seat and after a few stalling starts drove out of the car park. "Remind me why you are driving." Annabeth said drily.

"That doesn't always happen!" Piper protested.

We drove along in companionable silence for a few minutes. Thoughts and questions were whizzing around inside my head, waiting to burst out. They did.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Camp Half Blood" Piper told me. The car swerved dangerously and Piper clutched the steering wheel, narrowly avoiding veering off the road.

"What?"

Annabeth turned around in her seat to face me. "Make sure you're sitting comfortably!" Piper joked. Annabeth glared at her and then turned back to me. I realised I really liked both of them, even though I hadn't known them for very long.

"Camp Half Blood is a training facility and safe haven for Greek demigods like us." Anticipating my next question, she carried on, "Demigods are the offspring of a mortal and a god. They usually have some control or skill over the realm of their godly parent. Monsters can detect the scent given off by demigods and that's why you had that run in with amphisbaena. When you get to the camp, you'll stay in the Hermes cabin until you are claimed, unless, of course, you have some idea yourself of whom your godly parent might be."

I was silent as I tried to take it all in. It seemed like only yesterday, in fact it was only yesterday, that I was in England at school with Imogen. Now I was in America, Long Island to be exact, with Annabeth and Piper and I had just found out that I was a demigod. Not that it had really surprised me. A few days ago, I'd had a dream. I was in a beautiful garden surrounded by flowers and trees covered delicious fruit. At the end of the garden was a lady reclining on a bench. She had wavy blonde hair and was wearing a Greek dress.

"Who are you?" I asked.

She waved her hand. "Never mind. We do not have time for that, as I can only have a few minutes with you. What is important for you to know is that your life is going to change dramatically in the next few days. The others don't agree, but you are going to be very important for the final push. If we are to succeed, you must go on the quest with the others."

"What? How? I don't understand." I didn't understand what she was talking about. It left me feeling more confused than ever.

The woman looked up at the sky "Gods, I think they can sense our meeting. We've run out of time now. I'm sorry we haven't had much time together Freya, but you have to understand. You must go on the quest. Don't tell anyone about our meeting."

With that the woman faded away and I woke up. I couldn't go to sleep for the rest of the night; the woman's words running through my head. Who was she? How did she know my name? The dream haunted me for the next few days as I tried to work out what she meant. It just made me even more puzzled. Maybe Annabeth and Piper could help me work it out, but I couldn't. The woman had told me not to and I felt that it was important to listen to what she had said.

"Well?" Annabeth was waiting expectantly. I came back to the present and thought back to the events during the fight against the amphisbaena.

"I'm not sure, but…" I told them about the vines that had seemed to grow out of the wood by the power of my hands. I tried to show them now. It didn't work. "I think that it probably only works with natural materials," I said "like wood or soil. Not plastic. Maybe metal, but I don't think so."

Annabeth looked at Piper for conformation. "I'm pretty sure then that you are the daughter of Demeter, goddess of harvest and agriculture."

Demeter. Somehow, it sounded right, like I knew the name well. At home, I had always enjoyed growing fruit and vegetables and I had thought that I had a certain gift for it, when my tomatoes grew as large as apples and dads were as big as cherries (I guess they were cherry tomatoes). In school I had always enjoyed History lessons on the Greek gods and had paid particular attention, so I knew a lot about Demeter, and many of the other gods.

As if on cue, a glowing green image of an ear of wheat appeared above my head. "That settles that then," Annabeth said, inclining her head at the symbol, which was fading now, "You've been claimed by Demeter."

"Who are your godly parents?" I asked them "No, wait, let me guess."

I glanced at Piper. She was frowning in concentration at the road ahead, but she still looked really pretty. Her eyes were really interesting: one minute they seemed brown, the next green and then blue. An eagle feather was braided into her straight brown hair. Maybe she was the daughter of the goddess of love? That was… I stopped to think, my mind going back to History lessons that seemed like many years ago. "Aphrodite!" I burst out. Piper gave the tiniest of nods, focussing completely on keeping the car on the road.

Annabeth was harder to guess. Her curly blonde hair and steely grey eyes didn't really give you much of a clue as to who her godly parent was and I hadn't seen much of her personality to make a guess on that. I looked more closely. A flash of silver caught my eye and I noticed that she was wearing silver owl earrings. Owls were the symbol of the goddess of wisdom, who was… That thought niggled at me for a long time and I had almost given up, when I remembered "Athena!"

Annabeth nodded. "That took you a while." she commented, but there wasn't any real malice in what she said.

The car lurched and Piper let it skid to an ungainly halt. "We're here!" she called out, sounding rather relieved. Annabeth leapt out immediately.

"She is never driving again." Annabeth told me confidentially. It made me feel as if I had been accepted by her as one of her friends and that this was more important than being accepted by Piper, or any other friends of theirs that I would meet. "Let's go show you the camp."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter** **3**

 _ **Freya**_

A boy and a man who had the legs of a horse, a centaur, I think he was, were waiting for us by the entrance to Camp Half Blood. Annabeth ran over to the boy and hugged him tightly. "That's Percy." Piper said "Annabeth's boyfriend. He's the son of Poseidon. They don't like to be away from each other for long periods of time since their experience in Tartarus."

"Tartarus?" From what I remembered, Tartarus was hell. Literally.

Piper looked uneasy, as if she didn't want to talk about it. "Yeah. It's a long story."

"You can tell me later."

Piper nodded, but she didn't seem very convinced. We reached the group of people. The centaur smiled warmly. "Welcome to Camp Half Blood, Freya. I'm Chiron. I run the place." He turned to Piper and Annabeth. "I trust you had a safe trip?"

"Apart from Piper's driving, it was fine." Annabeth replied. She had her arm around Percy.

Piper punched Annabeth's arm lightly. "Hey."

"It wasn't that bad Annabeth. It was better than I would have been." I put in.

"Yeah, but you're 14. You can't learn to drive yet!"

Chiron coughed. "I suppose that you are going to show Freya around the camp."

Percy shook his head. "Not me, I just wanted to check that Annabeth was okay." He squeezed her hand. It was sweet how much they cared for each other. "And now I'm going to go kick Jason's butt at sword fighting."

"Good luck with that." Piper paused, "But if you do, you know, kick Jason's butt, can you try not to kick it too hard? Please?" I guessed that Jason must be Piper's boyfriend.

Percy winked "We'll see." He started to jog in what I assumed was the direction of the sword fighting arena. It amazed me how casually they all took everything that seemed so knew to me, but I supposed that they were probably used to it by now. I would probably get used to it. "Have fun!" he called over his shoulder.

Chiron looked at his watch. "I'd better be going too. I'll see you all later at dinner." he cantered off over the hill.

Piper grinned at me. "I've never done a tour of the camp before. Where do you want to go? There's the Big House, the cabins, the arena, the mess hall, the-"

"Let's go to the cabins." The list of places sounded like a long one. We started walking through a meadow full of lovely sweet smelling flowers.

"So, what's England like? It's one of the few places we haven't travelled to" Piper asked.

That brought a fresh flood of memories over me. "I haven't actually lived in England that much, only 3 or 4 years. It's quite cold and wet, but the sense of community is really great and some of the countryside is really pretty. I've actually lived in Norway for most of life, but we moved to England because my Dad's landscape designer and there was more call for landscape designers in England. Norway is beautiful. I've been homesick ever since we left there." I stopped. Dad.

It was late at night and I was in bed, when I heard a loud pounding at the door. Dad rushed down to answer it. We didn't get many visitors, Dad was quite a solitary person and the only friend I had was Imogen, so I crept out of my room to see what was going on.

Dad opened the door. From my vantage point I couldn't see who was at the door; I could only the shadows that they cast over Dad.

"You know who we've come for." the voice was low and scratchy. I clutched the banisters in fear.

"No," I whispered, "No."

Dad's voice was calm, "You can't have her."

"Try stopping us." the voice replied.

Suddenly there was a flash of blinding light, searing my eyes. I was hurled backwards by the force of it. It pulsated brightly and I covered my eyes. Then, as quickly as it had happened, it was gone. I stood up dazedly, slowly making my way downstairs, leaning on the banister for support, hoping that Dad was okay.

I reached the front door. There was no sign of any damage, no sign that anyone had been there at all. They were gone. All of them. Including Dad.

Piper was looking at me strangely. "Are you okay, Freya?" I shook my head to clear myself of the unwelcome thoughts.

" _You know who we've come for."_

" _You can't have her."_

" _Try stopping us."_

"Yes," I said, my voice trembling slightly, "Just… homesick."

Piper patted my back, "Don't worry," she said lightly, "You'll get used to it. And you can visit your Dad and your friends in England in the holidays."

But I couldn't. There was no one left.

We stopped in a small clearing surrounded by cabins. There was a fire burning at one end. "These are the cabins for the campers," said Piper, "That's yours over there." She waved in the direction of a small green cabin. Flowers and other plants wound their way up the walls and the roof was made of grass. Two girls were carefully tending to a vegetable patch at the front. I had a sudden urge to see what it was like inside. The beds were probably mounds of grass and I could imagine trees grown in such a way that you could use them for shelves and cupboards. "Do you like it? I have to say, it is one of the better ones. Just look at mine."

I turned to look at a wooden cabin with a painted blue roof, pillars, a checkerboard deck with steps and grey walls. There was a strong smell of designer perfume. "It's, umm…" I struggled to think of a positive word to describe it.

"Awful." finished Annabeth, "Don't worry, even Piper agrees."

Piper shrugged "You get used to it."

"You'll be next to me though," Annabeth carried on, pointing at a grey cabin with white curtains and the design of an owl on a wall, "so if you need anything, you can come and ask me."

"Or me," said Piper, "I'm only two cabins away!"

"Don't worry," I replied, "I'll come and see both of you." I made my way towards the Demeter cabin. "Bye!"

"Wait!" Annabeth shouted, "We need to get you a weapon."

I stopped mid stride. "You mean you carry around weapons?"

Piper nodded, "Yeah, everyone does. You can never be too safe." She lifted up her t-shirt slightly to reveal a dagger strapped around her waist.

It relieved me in a way to be getting a weapon. After the encounter with the amphisbaena, I wanted to be more prepared next time I came across a monster. "Okay then. But I've never used a weapon before."

"It doesn't matter," replied Annabeth, "Not many people have. I'm good at choosing weapons for people though. I'll see what suits you."

We entered a small shed like room, filled completely with every type of weapon that you could ever dream of. "Wow." I breathed. I walked over to a wall covered in bows, picking up one and twanging it.

Annabeth frowned, "Careful. The Apollo kids won't be happy if you use that, their Dad being the God of archery and all that.

I put it down and looked around. I didn't fancy using a sword. They looked quite heavy and hard to wield. I had always been quite clumsy. There were guns too, but there was something about them that just put me off. They seemed so violent.

Piper rummaged through a box. "How about this?" She held up a spear that was about 2 metre long. "It's a dory. I think it will suit you."

Annabeth nodded and I held it in my hands. I wanted to test it straight away. "It's perfect."

Someone knocked loudly on the door and burst in. It was Percy with another boy who I think was Jason. "What's the point in knocking if you don't wait for us to reply, Seaweed Brain?" muttered Annabeth.

Percy had his hands on his knees and was panting. Jason was leaning against the wall, also looking tired.

"What's the matter?" I asked, worried.

Piper placed her hand on Jason's back. "Tell us, Jason."

Percy straightened up. "It's the Romans." he gasped out, "They've come. They want a meeting now, with all the head councillors."

Annabeth snapped into action. "Right, Freya, go back to your cabin. The rest of us will go over now."

"No." I said.

Annabeth either didn't seem to hear me, or she was ignoring me.

"No. I'm not leaving." Louder this time.

Annabeth turned towards me, "I'm sorry Freya, but you heard what Percy said. Head councillors only."

"I don't care." I felt braver now, "Last time I left my friend, she died. I'm not leaving my friends again when something bad happens." I didn't tell the other reason I wanted to come. The words of the woman echoed in my head.

"You must go on the mission with them."

Piper walked up to Annabeth. "Just let her come. We're wasting time."

Annabeth sighed. "Fine. But _don't_ say a single word. Or you will go straight back to your cabin."

I let out a sigh of relief. They had let me come. We ran out of the cabin over to the Big House, the dory slapping against my back with every step. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to choose such a cumbersome weapon.

"What I don't understand," I huffed as we ran, "is why the fact that the Romans are coming is so bad."

Piper frowned, "It's not. But they didn't tell us that they were coming so it can only mean one thing."

"What?" I asked, although I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

"Bad news."


End file.
